Garrett Hardin Life Boat Ethics: The Case Against Helping

1
Garrett Hardin Life Boat Ethics The Case
Against Helping The Poor

• Hardin argues that well-intentioned philanthropy
  is actually counter-productive.
• When we give international aid to 3rd world
  countries we cause more suffering in the long
  run.
• His central metaphor is that of a lifeboat.
• If we put too many people in our life boat it
  will sink and everyone will die.
• Hardin thinks this metaphor is apt because
• (a) despite our prosperity our resources are
  limited, while
• (b) the potential number of impoverished people
  in need of our help is unlimited, especially if
  we keep helping them.

2
When Christians and Marxists agree

• Both the Christian and Marxist moral schemes (as
  well as common moral sensibility) suggest that we
  should give foreign aid.
• When these two agree on something, theres a
  powerful case to be made.
• But we need to make sure that our good intentions
  dont lead us down a path to hell.
• Some aid in certain circumstance might be okay,
  but we need to be very careful about who we give
  it to, and how much we give.

3
Thomas Malthus and Population Growth

• Malthus was a 18th century English population
  economist who predicted a global food-shortage
  catastrophe.
• Because population expands exponentially but food
  production only expands geometrically by the
  middle of the 19th century there would be mass
  starvation around the world.
• This idea of scare resources helped inspire
  Darwins idea of survival of the fittest.
• Malthus was obviously wrong about the particular
  date, mostly due to his failure to adequately
  gage mortality rates.
• But his basic idea still is thought by many to
  hold.

4
Industrialized Countries vs. Nonindustrialized
Countries

• Hardin notes that modern countries have slower
  population growth (due to birth control etc.)
• This means that if we commit ourselves to sharing
  resources that within a generation they will so
  vastly outstrip our numbers as to swamp the boat.
• This discussion assumes that current population
  trends will continue, and they may not. Quite so.
  Most likely the rate of population increase will
  decline much faster in the U.S. than it will in
  the other countries, and there does not seem to
  be much we can do about it.
• Singer rightly spanks Hardin for this as other
  countries modernize their population rates will
  drop, and thus there is something we can do about
  ithelp them modernize.

5
The Tragedy of the Commons"

• When property is privately owned it is maintained
  well.
• But when property is held in common the incentive
  to maintain it is marginalized.
• If a pasture becomes a commons open to all, the
  rational thing for me to do is to use it as much
  as I can before I use any of my own pasture.
• If I dont use it someone else will, so I might
  as well take as much as I can rather than dip
  into my resources.
• But if everyone has this mentality then the land
  will be rapidly depleted, leaving no seed to
  restock the land.

6
The Prisoners Dilemma

• The tragedy of the commons takes the form of a
  prisoners dilemma.
• Two prisoners are caught and interrogated
  separately. Each are offered a deal to turn
  against the other. What is the rational thing to
  do?

7
The World Food Bank

• Some have proposed a world food bank in which
  prosperous nations could place excess food and
  poor nations could make withdrawals as needed.
• While weve never literally had such a bank, many
  programs are very similar to it.
• But would such a program cause more good than
  harm?
• Hardin thinks that, due to the tragedy of the
  commons, it would actually cause more harm.
• If poor nations are never forced to provide for
  themselves theyll continue to rely on aid and
  never become self-sufficient.
• It may seem harsh to punish poor nations, but
  Hardin is simply thinking of the consequences.

8
Population Control the Crude Way

• The very things that aid checks against (disease,
  food shortages, etc.) are the very things that
  help reduce population in poor countries.
• By giving aid then we are increasing their rate
  of population growth and hence, increasing their
  need for aid.
• Thus we have two options
• Not give aid and let millions die.
• Or give aid and eventually have not choice but to
  let billions starve.
• Despite our good intentions, in the long run aid
  only makes things worse.

9
Immigration vs. Food Supply

• Immigration poses the same problem as
  international aid.
• The only difference is rather than sending the
  food to the people, you bring the people to the
  food.
• Even if this alleviates some short term-suffering
  it doesnt fix the core problem.
• In fact it only makes the inevitable catastrophe
  that much worse.
• While its true we are all immigrants in a sense,
  we cannot undo the past.
• We need to deal the the problem as it stands
  today.

10
Singers Reply The Shelter

• After a nuclear war were down in our community
  fall-out shelter.
• There are 10,000 people outside who will die if
  we dont let them in.
• We have enough supplies to accommodate them, but
  we will have to give up our luxuries.
• Some argue that we shouldnt let anyone in.
• They didnt invest in the shelter so they have no
  right to it.
• Some argue we should let in some.
• Say 500, not so many that we have to give up all
  our luxuries.
• How would you vote 0, 500, or 10,000?

11
Neomalthusean Predictions

• In the late 60s a number of population
  specialists thought Malthus catastrophe was
  finally about to arrive.
• "the battle to feed all of humanity is over... In
  the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of
  people will starve to death in spite of any crash
  programs embarked upon now India couldn't
  possibly feed two hundred million more people by
  1980I have yet to meet anyone familiar with the
  situation who thinks that India will be
  self-sufficient in food by 1971.Paul Erlich The
  Population Bomb
• Needless to say, they were yet again wrong. They
  had corrected for Malthus mistakes, but failed
  to predict The Green Revolution.

12
Norman Borlaug and the Green Revolution

• Hardin mentions Norman Borlaug the Nobel Prize
  winning agronomist and father of the Green
  Revolution.
• What he doesnt mention is exactly what the man
  did.
• Through an innovative series of cross breading
  and engineering, Borlaug was able to increase
  crop yields and make crops more resistant to
  diseases and insects.
• As a result more than one BILLION human beings
  were saved from starvation.
• Why isnt this man a household name?

13
Delaying The Inevitable?

• Hardin argues that all of that misses the point.
• Sooner or later we will reach the maximum
  possible yield, but there is no such ceiling for
  population growth.
• Even if we disregard food other resources will
  run scarce.
• Theres only so much oil, wood, metal, etc. on
  the planet.
• As more and more countries modernize their
  consumption and pollution levels rise.
• The planet has a carrying capacity and while
  technology may be able to delay the Malthusian
  Catastrophe, as long as population keeps growing
  it cannot stop it.

14
Game Preserve Ethics The Case for Hunting the
Poor?

• In 2004 a philosopher writing under the name of
  Harrett Gardin published a paper with that
  title.
• He argued that Hardin does not go far enough.
• We should set up international hunts to cull the
  heard of absolute poverty.
• We could charge a lot of money and use the profit
  to help those that remain.
• This was Gardins version of Swifts A Modest
  Proposal.
• The subtext was that Hardins position was too
  extreme were smart people if we REALLY put our
  minds to it we can find a solution.

15
Singers Reply

• Firstly, anyone not repulsed by the thought of
  what Hardin suggests is an unpleasant sort of
  person.
• But as a consequentialist, Singer admits that if
  Hardins predictions are right, then his
  prescription (no aid) is right.
• But are Hardins predictions right?
• Both Malthus and the Neomalthusians were wrong.
  Population forecasts dont have a very good track
  record.
• If we just give food, medicine, sanitation
  equipment, etc. then Hardin may be prove right.
• These diminish mortality rates but not birth rates

16
Free Trade and Globalization

• If we do more than just give money, food and
  medicine we may be able to curb birth rates, too.
• Improved education, emancipation of women, access
  to contraceptives, etc.
• There is actually a strong financial incentive to
  modernize third world countries.
• Were talking about 4-8 billion potential
  customers here.
• By removing trade restrictions foreign investment
  increases, money flows into developing nations
  and modernization occurs.
• India and China have both started opening their
  markets in the last 25 years their economies
  have boomed and their rates of population growth
  have slowed.

17
Excuse Arent They Corrupt?

• Governments in African nations embezzle or
  intercept any aid we send their way.
• They depend on their peoples poverty to stay in
  power.
• Economist Jeffrey Sachs compares this judgment to
  a patient with fever symptoms going to see a
  doctor.
• The doctor just says you have an ear infection
  without actually EXAMINING the patient.
• Just as there are dozens of potential causes for
  a fever there are dozens of potential causes for
  poverty.
• We need to actually DIAGNOSE the problem in order
  to fix it.
• Sachs Book The End of Poverty outlines a global
  initiative to end extreme poverty by 2025.
• His predictions might prove no more accurate than
  Malthus, but its worth noting not everyone is a
  pessimist.

18
Excuse Arent They Lazy?

• People in poor countries need to take
  responsibility for themselves.
• If they just applied themselves they could pull
  themselves up by their bootstraps.
• This can only be said by people who have never
  actually looked at these villages.
• These people work much harder than any of us just
  to survive each day.
• The crushing economic circumstances of extreme
  poverty make it impossible for anyone to pull
  themselves out on their own.
• If there was any way for them to save themselves,
  they would.

19
Excuse What Can One Person Do?

• This problem is so massive that only power
  players can have any effect on it.
• The problems are infrastructural, not
  individualistic.
• Governments and billionaires might be able to
  have an effect, but not me.
• This is probably the most pernicious excuse of
  them all.
• We know we can save the drowning child, but were
  not sure we can save children in developing
  nations.
• This excuse might be a convenient way of living
  with our guilt, but its just not true.
• So lets talk about what each and every one of us
  can do to help.

20
The Extreme Paul Farmer

• Paul Farmer is a Doctor at Harvard Medical
  School, who spends 9 months out of the year in
  Haiti, serving the poorest of the poor.
• He has dedicated his life to developing clinics,
  training health providers and preventing and
  treating diseases in neglected countries.
• Farmer is a remarkable testimony to the power of
  what one person can do.
• Organizations like the Peace Corps give people a
  readily accessible option for giving a portion of
  their life to help people in developing
  countries.

21
Giving Money

• Even if we dont go as far as giving up a portion
  of our lives, to do nothing is just morally
  unacceptable.
• There are a large number of reputable charity
  organizations out there.
• I recommend looking into them, finding at least
  one that you like and give generously.
• One charity I favor is Doctors Without Borders.
• Farmers Partners in Health is also a very good
  organization.
• Everyone should also visit The Hunger Site every
  day.

22
Micro-Finance

• Traditional banking works on the bizarre premise
  if you have money well give you more.
• Hence, the people who need money the most do not
  have access to loans.
• Micro-financing has arisen as an alternative to
  this model.
• The idea is to make small, unsecured loans to
  people who need it to achieve a self-sustaining
  existence.
• Websites like Kiva.org organize local partners to
  find groups, screen them and allow you to find
  actual people that you want to lend money to.
• The amounts are very small, about 25, and when
  they are paid back you can either withdraw your
  money, or you can reinvest it in a new
  entrepreneur.
• Small amounts of money make real differences in
  peoples lives, not just once but several times.

23
Political Options

• American politicians pay attention to terrorism
  because they know people will respond to it.
• If they believe that people will respond to
  extreme poverty, theyll start dealing with it.
• Pressure politicians to do these things
• Eliminate domestic farm subsidies.
• Promote debt relief for developing nations.
• Increase foreign aid to developing nations.
• Eliminate trade barriers and promote free trade
• By removing trade restrictions foreign investment
  increases, money flows into developing nations
  and modernization occurs.
• India and China have both started opening their
  markets in the last 25 years.
• Their economies have boomed and their rates of
  population growth have slowed.

24
Education

• Just by showing up here today, youre doing
  something to help
• Youre becoming more aware of the problem.
• You can help more by continuing to learn about
  the problem.
• Books by Muhammad Yunus, Jeffrey Sachs, Paul
  Farmer, Peter Singer and Bill Clinton are all
  tremendous resources.
• You can also pass this information on.
• Talk to other people about what you heard today,
  keep it in the public consciousness.
• I think we should at least do something.
• But as always, youre free to disagree with me.